Campaign problem: Too many characters to transport.

[Mistah J]

Hey all,

Here is the campaign situation:

The group I am leading has 5 characters. In the last session, they met an NPC cleric looking for his friends and the party agreed to help. They tacked the missing people to a small village and when the PCs arrived, they saw it was under attack.

So they saved the day. No problem there except that all the NPC friends were supposed to have died in the attack and, thanks to some quick thinking and lucky rolls on the PCs part, 2 actually survived.

Now I have a small problem: the NPC cleric has a scroll of wind walk at caster level 15. He was going to use it to take his 5 friends home with him and, when the PCs returned with news of their death, he was going to take the party instead to report the attack and from there, the campaign continues.

Home, by the way is the nation capital - a month away by regular travel.

Now I have too many people, the 2 survivors make a total of 7 that the NPC cleric needs to wind walk but the scroll only lets him take 5.

I'm reluctant to wave the DM wand and change the scroll to caster level 21 because
a) it is a little "on the nose" that the scroll just happens to have room for the exact number of people.
b) a 21st caster level scroll is an Epic item, which is a little out of reach for this NPC and the PCs (who are all around lvl 6)
- I am already handwaving the fact that the 6th lvl cleric will automatically pass the caster level check to cast a 6th lvl spell from a scroll.

Can anyone think of anything I could do so that 2 people don't get left behind and still keep it from seeming that the DM is just "making it work" for the sake of the game?

Thanks for your advice

 

[darjr]

Maybe the news is big enough that only a few need to take it. Then someone will pitch in at the home city with two more scrolls of windwalk. Or some other form of quick transportation.

Or you could turn into another adventure. The 5 go home leaving the 2 knowing that the others will try and find some way to hurry back. That hurrying could be an adventure in itself. I'm not saying spend the month getting back... but maybe they find a different fast form of transportation that isn't exactly 'safe'. Like a walk through the abyss as a dimensional shortcut?

Or the players could be the ones left behind and the others go. The players would face a harrowing defense while they try and survive long enough for the others to come back and get them too.

 

[frankthedm]

Can anyone think of anything I could do so that 2 people don't get left behind and still keep it from seeming that the DM is just "making it work" for the sake of the game?

Very simple solution. Suicide. Two people turn themselves into objects and then are carried as gear.

Otherwise just walk. They got feet for a reason.

 

[GlassEye]

Is it necessary that the characters get back to the city immediately? I would probably just not worry about using the scroll and have them travel the distance normally. Unless there is a time constraint that shouldn't be a problem. If there is a time constraint then don't change anything. Let the characters make the decision: does the npc take the survivors back or the party? Their decision will, one way or the other, make an impact on the campaign world.

 

[ruemere]

Purchase another scroll. Grateful villagers can scrape some cash to help them.
Or get an ally to cast Teleport.

Regards,
Ruemere

 

[BriarMonkey]

The NPC Cleric and his friends return to the city and the PCs take another route. Once the Cleric has returned and relayed the story, with his friends in tow, the PCs can be given instruction via Sending or similar magic.

Unless you have things hard-wired into specific locales, is there a reason why the PCs can not continue with the story line from where they are, or say, maybe a week out travel-wise? (And if so, can those locales be moved?) This would allow you to remove the NPCs, have information relayed (with a Sending or such), and not have to break plausibility with the scroll.

 

[Set]

Al-Qadim introduced the idea of a Djinn being able to form a non-damaging version of their whirlwind power that could transport a group over great distances, very rapidly. You could have some sub-caste of Djinn or Air Elemental able to perform this function (perhaps in place of some other ability), and have the PCs discover an item that represents a favor that some Genie owed a mortal, specifically worded to provide the holder (and a certain number of allies) this form of transportation at some future date.

Since it's a 'monster power' being used by a Genie (or elemental working for a genie), it doesn't really matter what it's 'caster level' is, and you can set the parameters as you wish. (Making it twice as fast as the usual Air Elemental whirlwind, for instance, would put it around Spd 200, which is only 1/3rd the speed of a Wind Walk spell, but still pretty fast.)

If whatever temple / clergy might be involved in the adventure have less to do with air and genies, you could find something more suitable, like a one-shot Chariot of Sustarre-like effect for a fire/sun god, or a one-shot Shadow Walk effect for a darkness/illusion god, or a Succor spell variant for just any old generic Cleric. The effect could be a one-shot item of some sort, like a lamp that calls up the genie for one use of Whirlwind Transport, or a lump of coal that when ignited flares up and forms the Chariot of Sustarre, or it could be an in-place effect, such as a momentary weak point between the plane of shadow and the material world, that seals up behind the travellers, so that they can only use it to Shadow Walk this one time.

Heck, some ancient cleric or summoned celestial entity might have blown a Miracle in days past to allow the high priest and his faithful to evacuate the temple to a temple in some far away location, in case the temple was overrun. The magic was never discharged (the faith died out slowly, and there was never a need to 'evacuate'), and the PCs might find out how to trigger it (perhaps with some Knowledge - religion checks or a Use Magic Device check, to simulate the necessary rites or invocations to the patron diety in question) to trigger a one-shot mass Succor / group Teleport effect that brings everyone in the room to the temple in the destination city (including, perhaps, some invisible pursuer / spy that the PCs don't know has come along for the trip...).

If you want to get them there fast, there are plenty of evocative and potentially adventure-triggering options to speed things up, and if they can just send a message ahead and walk the survivors to safety the old-fashioned way, that's also a fine option.

 

[IronWolf]

I tend towards the sentiment that decisions now need made and possibly the party will be walking/traveling back overland to the capital city. It likely turns into another adventure just getting back to the city. Or you just sprinkle a couple of interesting bits and hand wave days worth of travel during the trip back to the city.

 

[hopeless]

Okay

Hey all,
Here is the campaign situation:

The group I am leading has 5 characters. In the last session, they met an NPC cleric looking for his friends and the party agreed to help. They tracked the missing people to a small village and when the PCs arrived, they saw it was under attack.

So they saved the day. No problem there except that all the NPC friends were supposed to have died in the attack and, thanks to some quick thinking and lucky rolls on the PCs part, 2 actually survived.

Now I have a small problem: the NPC cleric has a scroll of wind walk at caster level 15. He was going to use it to take his 5 friends home with him and, when the PCs returned with news of their death, he was going to take the party instead to report the attack and from there, the campaign continues.

So they don't actually need to go along unless thats the next part of your adventure.

Home, by the way is the nation capital - a month away by regular travel.

Now I have too many people, the 2 survivors make a total of 7 that the NPC cleric needs to wind walk but the scroll only lets him take 5.

I'm reluctant to wave the DM wand and change the scroll to caster level 21 because
a) it is a little "on the nose" that the scroll just happens to have room for the exact number of people.
b) a 21st caster level scroll is an Epic item, which is a little out of reach for this NPC and the PCs (who are all around lvl 6)
- I am already handwaving the fact that the 6th lvl cleric will automatically pass the caster level check to cast a 6th lvl spell from a scroll.
Can anyone think of anything I could do so that 2 people don't get left behind and still keep it from seeming that the DM is just "making it work" for the sake of the game?
Thanks for your advice

So why not have the cleric's 2 friends decide they need to stick around?

If matters are that bad that a report needs to be made then surely the cleric sends them as witnesses and uses Message or whatever magic to send a more updated report later on as he and his 2 friends take the time to investigate further.

IF its really that important for the survivors' to come along do either of the 2 friends have the means to travel separately from the cleric and the 5 adventurers'?

Am I missing something here?